Return to Radiant Garden: Newfound Journey
by vildtiger
Summary: After his long sleep ends decides Ventus follow Sora and co on their travel to save those who suffer. he end up in another incredible journey in the Disney worlds and he slowly gets answers about the past of the Nobody and Roxas. no yaio or yuri
1. Radiant Garden

A/N **some old/new characters will arrive in this story. The chapters will be longer as they each will be in different worlds this time.**

"_I want go with you guys!"  
>"No Ven, you´re staying here."<br>"But Aqua!"  
>"It´s too dangerous out there, and you´ve only been awaked for a day."<em>

The words from yesterday were still lingering in the back of his mind. He wanted so much to follow his new friends on their journey, but Aqua had stopped him. It was unfair. They could go, while he was forced to stay, just like last time Terra left.

It wasn't like he was mad at Aqua… it was just… he really wanted to help Sora save Terra from the Darkness. He promised Terra he would be there when his best friend needed him, just like he did now.

'_Sorry Aqua, but I have to do this_' Ventus thought as he silently crept out of the castle. He was more than ready to take off and find Sora and his friends. Before he even made the decision to run away, he had tried to convince Sora that Aqua was wrong for not letting him go, but that discussion hadn't gone very well.

_"Please Sora! I want go with you!" exclaimed Ventus to the brown haired keyblade wielder, Sora crossed his arms in a apologized sight "Sorry Ven but I can´t just let you come with us. Aqua is right, you´re not strong enough to this. I´m sorry, but I´m with Aqua" he said sad to his new friend, he would be more than happy letting Ventus join their travel but as it was now… Ventus would more be in the way than helping._

_"Please~" begged Ven but as answer Sora shook his head and with a sorry he went, leaving Ventus sadder than ever, but his mind was already made up 'I can´t stay here and do nothing…'_

So now Ventus had flown off on his keyblade glider in the middle of the night and left the world Land of Departure, searching after his friends. His desire to save Terra from the Darkness and from Xehanort pressed him on.

Ventus took a look behind him, as he left the world, watching it disappear in the distance. He put the Glider in full speed, towards the next closest world, hoping it was where Sora had gone.

It wasn't very long before he arrived. As he approached, he couldn't help but feel as though it looked familiar. There was a large castle in the distance. It looked similar to the one he saw in Radiant Garden, but it was much more overdue, and the garden surrounding it had seen better days as well.

"It won't hurt to check it out," he muttered, as he descended.

Ventus landed in a nearby canyon. He avoided landing in the town square because he had heard the sounds of metal against metal—perhaps it was a fight. It wasn't something he wanted to approach head on. He made his way through the canyon and started toward the town square. He wanted to find out who was fighting, but sneaking around to gain the element of surprise often turned the tides of a fight.

As he approached, the sounds got louder, but he heard something else…a low rumble. Before he realized what was happening, a rock had tumbled from above and knocked him out cold.

xXx

Ventus awoke. He was in a warm bed and a strange guy with long blond hair was watching him from the corner.  
>He sat up slowly and the blond haired man walked toward him, sighing with relief.<p>

"You´re finally awake. Welcome back to the land of the living again, young man."

"Um thanks," the Keyblade wielder said. He was a bit confused. "What happened?"

The man smiled gave Ventus a glass of water.

"Lea and Ienzo found you buried under some rocks, and they brought you here. You´re lucky you survived." He pointed at himself. "My name is Even and this," he nodded toward another man standing just behind him who Ventus hadn't seen before now,"—is the castle master, Ansem the Wise."

Ventus shook his hand. He was still a little suspicious. This place was the same one he visited around 11 years ago. "So this is Radiant Garden huh? I recognize Even and this place as well."

Ansem faced Even who looked slightly surprised that this young boy knew him.

"So you have been here before? Tell me; what´s your name?"

"I´m Ventus!" The Keyblade wielder smiled."But most call me Ven," he added.

Even's surprised expression changed to a faint smile.

Ansem the Wise nodded, chuckling. "I guess you are the lad Aqua was talking about. It seems like she kept her promise."

Ansem´s smile faded as they heard shouting from just outside the room.

"Would not!"

Another voice followed coldly. "Then why are you always trying to get him back?"

Ven looked on in confusion toward the door as he heard the sound of two people bickering.

Ansem was about to utter an apology for the intrusion, but it seemed as though the voices were starting to trail off, away from the door. "I'd better go check on those two." Ansem pulled the door open and walked out into the hall."

"That didn´t sound good… Anyway, do you have any pain at all?" Even asked, as the door closed after Ansem.

Ven shrugged, as he sat up in bed. He tested his limbs, moving about gingerly to see if he could feel pain anywhere. He didn't take note of anything short of a few bruises. "Nope. Nothing worry about!"

"Good. Well, there is no reason to keep you here then. You are free to go if you would like."

Ventus nodded in thanks, and made his way into the hall. Around the corner, he saw a flash of red hair before the figure disappeared behind another hallway. The red hair looked very familiar. Ventus turned around, when he came face to face with another boy just a few years older than him. His hair was silver, and he looked rather familiar...

"You sure it´s not him?" the older boy asked. He had an unsure expression on his face.

Ansem was standing behind him, and he nodded in response. Ventus started to feel a bit awkward, as Ansem the Wise and this boy were looking at him; analyzing him. To break the silence that was forming, Ventus decided to voice his earlier thoughts.

"You look familiar."

"I do?" Silver haired boy said with a quirked brow.

"Yeah, you look familiar to a little boy I once rescued from the Unversed…"

The older boy's eyes widened as he heard Ventus speak. "Impossible…" He turned away from Ventus, muttering to himself. "That was for over 10 years ago. You can´t be him."

"Huh?"

"But this is strange…how could you know about that?"

"You´re Ienzo, right?"

Ienzo nodded."Yes, but…it's obvious that I'm older than you. How could you have saved me?"

The Keyblade wielder sighed. It was probably a good idea to explain things. "I´m not really sure how long it has been, but Aqua tells me because I have a pure heart like the princess of light; my heart can´t leave the realm of light and my body went into a slumber. She told me if a pure hearted person goes into that kind of slumber I did, their body won´t age before the heart returns"

When Ventus finished his explanation, Ansem nodded. "That´s make sense. Pure hearts are more unpredictable than normal hearts."

Ienzo nodded as well, but Ventus was still a little confused, even though he was the one who told the story. He sighed. "I get the bigger picture, but some of the details still confuse me. Maybe you can fill me in later, but for now, where did that other guy you were talking to go? He looked really familiar…a little like an old friend."

Ienzo smiled. "Sure. He went to a place just outside the town, near Market Street. That's where he goes most of the time when he wants to think."

"Thanks!" Venus said, and he made his way outside. Ienzo waved slightly after him, and turned to follow Ansem when the blond haired Keyblade wielder was out of sight.

Ventus traveled for a bit and found himself at Market Street. He sat on a wall, overlooking the town, his red hair shining brilliantly in the sunlight. The resemblance was so uncanny. It had to be his friend Lea.

Ventus walked up beside the redheaded, examined the man´s features. Lea looked a little bit older now than he had remembered him; his hair was longer and his eyes were a little lighter.

When Lea's eyes focused on him, his guarded expression changed to sorrow. He sighed. "Oh hi Rox… sorry but I´m not in the mood for talking." He stood and turned to leave.

"Who…is 'Rox?'" Ventus tilted his head to the side.

"Wait… don´t you know who you are?" Lea asked stopping.

Ventus gave him a vacant stare. He blinked. Surely he was joking. "Of course I know who I am!"

"It doesn't look like it…" Lea scratched the back of his head.

Ventus was starting to get the impression that Lea had indeed forgotten who he was. He would have been a little hurt, but considering the circumstances, it was understandable. He sighed. "I'm Ventus, but most people just call me Ven."

"Ventus?" Lea's mouth fell in a gape. "But you should be my age now!"

"Let me explain." Lea got the same story he had told Ansem and Ienzo, and it seems like Lea kind off understood.

"Well…that´s some nap!" Lea said with a laugh.

Ventus laughed too. "True, but now I´m back."

Lea chuckled and ruffled Ven´s hair. "I can't believe it's you!" He laughed for a bit longer before offering Ven one of his sea-salt ice cream bars. Ven hadn't had one in such a long time, so of course he said yes.

After the ice cream, the two chatted about the past; what had happened in this world, since each other's absence. "Well I followed your advice of friends and traveled out to the worlds and got some new friends Ventus told.

Lea laughed "Seem like you got that memorized aren´t ya?"  
>"You got that right!" joined Ventus, he asked what Lea has been doing.<p>

"You know, being me." Lea said pretty avoidant of that subject.  
>"What happed? And where is Isa?" Ventus asked him, but never really got the answer.<p>

Lea smiled and rose "Well, since you're back, how about we have a rematch?"

Ventus was surprised at the offer, but knowing Lea, he should have known it wouldn't have been long before he asked. "Sure! Why not?" It was maybe best let the subject of the past lie a little longer.

The two friends went to the place where they first met: the Central Square and they both drew their weapons. Lea had summoned his two Chakrams. They were no longer kids, and their weapons now were much more intense. Ventus wasn't using a toy sword, but rather, his Keyblade. They had changed so much…the fight this time should be fairly equal.

Lea smirked. When he and Ventus attacked each other, like the last time they fought; this battle was short. But unlike the last time, it was Lea who won. Once the battle was over, he dismissed his weapons, and walked over to Ventus. "Um…" He scratched the back of his neck.

Ventus rose from his spot on the ground. "Seems like you win this time." He laughed with no trace of anger.

"Yeah you're a little…rusty. Ven, follow my advice; you need to train…a lot."

Ventus nodded "Yeah, you're probably right." He eyed his Keyblade, before he dismissed it. "It's been a long time since I've used a Keyblade. It's pretty sad how out of practice I am."

Lea smiled and ruffled his hair once again before they started back toward the castle. Just before they reached the castle gate, Ventus stopped. He had to help Terra. It had been great getting to see his old friends again, but he couldn't stay and visit for much longer. He had already wasted so much time. "Sorry Lea, but I have to go now."

Lea stopped with a frown. "Why? What the hurry?"

"I didn´t find my friend during my last journey… he may need my help."

Lea nodded, understanding."Okay. Just don´t be a stranger, 'kay?"

The Keyblade wielder laughed. "Sure! See ya, Lea."

The fire wielder waved goodbye as the blond haired boy walked away. Ventus once again donned his armor, and threw his Keyblade up in the air, and watched as it transformed into his Keyblade Glider. He jumped on it, and he flew away from the world.

He looked down, and could see Axel, now the size of an ant, in the distance.

"_Axel…" he said, voice full of sadness, but there was some joy, knowing his friend really did care. The red haired man turned weakly. It was amazing he could still stand after such an intense match. The smile on Axels face wasn't real happiness, but it was close enough for him."Let´s meet again in the next life," Axel said to him._

_He nodded. They couldn´t be friends as Nobodies, but in another life; as humans, it was possible. "Yeah, I´ll be waiting."_

_The red haired smiled but turned his head away. "Silly. Just because you have a next life" That was all he said before the Darkness took him._

Ventus almost fell from his glider as the memory struck him. Had that been one of his memories, or was it one of Sora's that had gotten mixed in?

"That´s weird," he muttered " That man looked exactly like Lea… I wonder he knows this…Axel."

Right now; however, he had a mission to complete. He couldn't be bothered with trying to decipher this strange vision.


	2. Treasure planet

****  
>A boy with dark brown hair in a ponytail and green eyes paced along the deck of the ship, as the ship floated through space. He made his way to the bridge, and walked down the steps, scratching at his neck as he watched the little creature fly by.<p>

It laughed as it went down in an entire barrel of apples.

"Busted!" He yelled, jumped down after it and grabbed the creature in his hands.

Jim was about to tease it a bit more when he heard voices.

"We´re killers, not sailors!"

"We hunger to make the next the move!"

It was the crew, but what were they talking about? The boy's eyes widened when he heard his friend; John Silver scowl at them. "Don´t move until we got the treasure!"

Jim watched the scene through a crack in the side of the barrel to see what was really going on. The members of the crew he didn't like were all standing around, and he could see his friend. Next to him was his worst enemy, a creature that looked like a red spider with crab claws. The spider-being looked at John Silver with a smirk on his face. "I say we kill them all now."

Jim was positive John was the leader of this group now, because he seized the spider creature by the neck and shouted in his face. "You will do exactly as I say. Disobey my orders again, and I'll send you the same place you sent Mr. Arrow!"

He threw the spider at the same barrel Jim was hiding in, and the barrel teetered for a moment before settling back to a standing position. The jelly creature nearly screamed, but Jim was able to clamp a steady hand across its mouth before he could give them away.

The spider righted himself, and reached down into the barrel to grab and apple. Jim quickly grabbed the one under his leg, and handed it to him before he looked down and realized there was more in the barrel than apples.

"Is that so?" He asked, scooping up the apple.

"You got something to say Scroop?" John asked, his eyebrow arching dangerously low.

Scroop stabbed the apple with his claw and snorted. "I hear you got a soft spot for that boy."

The other crew members began mumbling at Scroop may be right.

John growled furiously at them. "I only care about one thing, and that´s the treasure! Do you really think I would risk it all because of some…whining little whelp?"

"What was it now? Oh you got the makings of greatness in ya," Scroop said in a mocking tone.

John shouted. "You'd better shut your mouth!" He stormed toward him, but something landed on the deck with a loud crash, interrupting the would-be fight.

Everyone turned toward the source of the noise, and Jim looked up from the barrel. He was still stunned about what he had heard, but he wanted to know the source of the noise as well.

xXx

"Oww… my head…" Ventus muttered as he rubbed the sore spot that had occurred after a not so graceful landing. Where had this ship come from, and how in the world did it manage to drag him down? It felted like it had its own gravitational pull.

Before he could take a good look around, Ventus found himself surrounded by some nasty looking aliens.

"Who is that boy?" Asked a squid-looking thing.

"Maybe it's a spy," Scroop said. All the aliens began to mumble. Some of them even drew their weapons.

"I´m not a spy!" Ventus exclaimed, holding his hands up in defense. "I landed here by an accident!"

None of the crew members seemed convinced, and the red spider held one of his claws close to Ventus's face.

"Spy or not, you´re still dead meat!"

"Enough of this!" Shouted someone from the ruckus, and everyone turned to the half robot- half alien man.

"Wow a cyborg!" Ventus said, his mouth agape.

The cyborg laughed and gave the Keyblade wielder a hand; the human hand. "You´re not the first one who's said that. There was another boy on this ship who said the same thing when he joined the crew. I think you have to be about the same age as him too."

Ventus chuckled, but he quickly changed to a serious tone. "Um…by chance, was that boy's name Sora?" The cyborg laughed. You're right lad, his name was Sora! Seems like we got another crew member, mates!"

"What member?" Asked a familiar voice. Right behind the Cyborg stood the trio Sora, Riku and Kairi!

Ventus was happy to see them again and they were too (except maybe Riku). Sora began to explain how he had ended up on the ship, they were with another boy named Jim Hawkins and helping him reaches the Treasure Planet. 

"We thought we could help Jim to find the treasure so he could rebuild his mother's tavern." Riku said "that´s the least we can do for him"  
>Ventus nodded. "Mind if I help too?"<p>

Sora crossed his arms, and looked at Riku to help him in the decision.

The older boy shrugged "Well, now he´s already here now…"

Sora grinned and turned back to Ventus "You´re welcome to join us, Ven."

"There's a planet right up ahead!" The lookout yelled, and all four Keyblade wielders ran to get a better view. As they got a bit closer, it was easy to identify it as Treasure Planet. The cyborg John Silver smiled victoriously, but his smile soon vanished as he reached around in his pocket and realized he couldn't find his telescopic. He looked around, then walked back to the stairs and saw Jim, who was walking slowly up the stairs.

They both faced each other, and the frown and hurt look on Jim's face told the cyborg that Jim knew exactly what his plans were.

"Jimbo…" he said and quickly looked around to be sure no one was watching. "Are you playing a game here?" He was trying to keep his voice calm and even, even though it was obvious he was trying to hide a different emotion.

Jim Hawkins backed away slowly and grabbed a small knife from the table off to his right before John took notice. "Yeah, I´m playing a game."

John slowly produced a gun from his metal arm. "I've never been good at games. Always hated to lose."  
>"So do I!" yelled Jim and leaped right towards his metal leg, stabbing it into the wood of the ship. He ran toward Sora and the others. "We have to go now!"<p>

Sora's smile faded, as he looked over Jim's shoulder and saw the cyborg struggling to get free. "Alright, let´s go."  
>They followed Jim towards the ship's emergency ships. Luckily, most of the crew wasn't paying attention, as they were focused on Treasure Planet. When John came limping over to them, a gun in his hand, they stared at him in awe.<p>

"There's been a change of plans, mates." He was grinning. "We move now!"

The crew cheered as they ran after Jim and the others.

"Jim what´s going on?" asked Sora asked as they ran.

"They´re all pirates! Even John! He´s their leader!"

Riku snorted. "Why doesn't this surprise me?" He sighed. "They're probably after the map. Where is it?"

Jim took the map out from his pocket and showed it to him. "I have it."

Riku nodded. "Just make sure you keep that safe."

They ran to the basement, where smaller boats were to get them to freedom.

"Riku, secure the door!" Jim yelled once they had cleared the threshold. Riku nodded and sealed the doors with his Keyblade.

Ventus and Sora released the ropes that held the boat, while Kairi opened the gate.

"Morph no!" Jim yelled. The jelly creature had always had been very fond of shiny things; including the map. He had snatched it up in its gelatinous body and started floating away.

The jelly creature laughed and flew out from Jim's reach.

"I've got him!" Kairi said.

Morph flew down in a pile of ropes, and Kairi was just able to grab the map. A moment later, the door burst open, as the pirates entered, with John at the front of the crew.

Jim and Ven had already boarded the boat, so Sora ran towards Kairi, and grabbed her hand. He gave her a reassuring nod, and they jumped together toward the boat.

Riku was fighting off the pirates as best he could, trying to keep them away from the boat.

"Come on Riku!" Sora cried after his friend.

Riku managed to strike down one more pirates before running toward the boat. It had already sailed a bit of a distance away, so Jim dropped the sails so the boat dropped in the atmosphere, and Riku was able to jump aboard.

He just barely cleared it, and was holding on to the edge of the ship by one hand.

Sora and Ventus quickly helped him up, and when he was safe, Jim pushed the ship into full speed toward the planet.

Kairi wiped her forehead. "That was close." She gave the map to Jim, and he put it into his pocket.

"A bit too close if you ask me," Riku said as he rubbed his sore arm. He looked back toward the planet. "I suggest we find a place to land as quickly as possible before the pirates reach us."

Jim nodded silently and searched for a spot to land.

xXx 

The Keyblade wielders walked through the thick lush vegetation of the jungle. They ducked behind an overhanging branch when they heard the sound of another ship soar above them.

Jim swallowed as he saw it pass them. "I think we need a better hiding place."

Sora nodded. "Right. We need to find cover quickly."

They walked deeper into the jungle, but it wasn't long before they heard a noise. Ventus summoned his Keyblade, and turned around to find Jim being hugged by a weird looking robot.

"At last someone came to rescue me! I´m so happy, I could hug you!" It yelled.

"Um… you already are…" said Ventus quirked a brow at the robot, as it proceeded to squeeze Jim even harder.

"Oh yeah," it said, before chuckling and releasing Jim from his death grip. "I been here for over 100 years. I'm not complaining but after staying alone for so long, you got a little NUTS!" He cried out, and sparks began to fly from his head.

"I´m… Sora," Sora said, good naturedly. He was a little unsure about this robot, but he had met stranger people in his past travels, so he decided a greeting would be the best way to approach this situation.

"Riku," Riku said. He didn't have nearly the same amount of patience as Sora, but even he could tell a greeting would be better than saying nothing at all.

"I´m Kairi, nice to meet you."

"I´m Ventus, but you can call me Ven. The guy you were hugging is Jim."

Jim waved in a short hello, and the robot laughed as it shook his hand.

"And my name is… um… my name is…"he paused for a second. "Ah! Ben! My name is Ben! "

"Nice to meet you, Ben, but we have to go now," Jim said. He was more than ready to get rid of this overly excited robot and move back to why they arrived there in the first place. "You see, we have pirates right—"

"PIRATES?" Ben shrieked. "I don´t like pirates!" He grabbed Riku, who was not at all pleased to be touched. "I remember Flint; he had such a nasty temper!"

"You know captain Flint?" Riku asked, as he pushed the robot off of him. "Then you must know where the treasure is."

"Cool!" Ventus and Sora cheered simultaneously, but Ben didn't look so sure.

"It´s a little… fuzzy, but uh... Wait! I re-member! Tre- eas-ure… hiding- in THE cen-ter of th-THE mechanism!" More sparks began to fly from his head as he stuttered. "There was a big door, opening-closing-opening-closing… he wants to Make sure no one-no-one gets his tre-tre-treasure. I- helped- HELPED!"

Annoyed, Riku smacked it in the back of the head, which to everyone's surprise actually stopped him from sputtering.

"And who are you?" Ben said, turning around.

"He has a lost more than one screw…" Ventus said crossing his hands behind his head. Sora nodded in agreement.

Jim grabbed the robot, and asked, "What did you mean by 'mechanism?' Where is the treasure?"

Ben shrugged. "Sorry. I've lost my mind. I've completely lost my mind!" He pointed at his head where a part of the metal covering was missing. "You haven´t seen it, have you?"

All of them shook their heads. "We have to move on," Riku said. "We've got more important things to do."

"We should probably find a hiding place for tonight." Jim said, folding his arms.

"Well, I guess… this is…goodbye!" Ben sobbed, and started to walk away. "It's okay. I understand. I'll go home…all alone. Who wants a dysfunctional robot anyway?"

Sora smiled. "Ben you just solved our problem"

xXx 

The Keyblade masters and Jim followed Ben to his house. It was quite a walk from their previous location, but it was nice to find a place to stay.

When they entered, it was clear that the house hadn't been cleaned in quite a while. Ben chuckled as he tried to scoot some of the odds and ends laying on the floor out of the walking path. "Heh…sorry about the mess. I wasn't really expecting visitors." He tried to move more of assortment of parts out of the way, but he just succeeded in making the house messier.

Ventus couldn´t help but laugh at the robot's attempt at cleaning. '_And Terra says my room is messy…_' suddenly he felt a bit sullen. He missed Terra and Aqua, and the fun they had together.

Sora was seated next to Kairi. He had one arm around her, and they both slept peacefully. From the expressions on their faces, Ven could tell that neither of them were worried about the danger outside, but rather, they were just enjoying their time together. 

Ventus smiled as he watched the two of them. He looked up and saw that Jim and Riku were still up near the entrance of the house, keeping guard.

Jim sighed as he watched the pirates set up camp a few miles away from where they were hiding.

"Lucky for us, they don´t know we´re here," Riku muttered.

"At least we have the map," Jim pulled the map from his pocket.

Suddenly the map flew from his hand and transformed into a gelatinous blob…it was Morph. Jim's mouth hung open. He had been tricked!

"Morph, where is the map?" Jim yelled.

Morph sheepishly transformed into a pile of ropes, indicating that the map was still on the pirate ship.

"Are you serious?" He took a swing at it, but the creature just dodged the blow. Jim turned to Riku. "We have to get it back before.."

"Before the pirates find out they have the map right under their noses" Ventus said. He crossed his arms and looked up at Riku. "Got any good ideas?"

Both Jim and Riku shook their heads.

Ventus sighed, and looked toward the camp. "If we just had a boat, we could fly back to the ship…" He turned around, and saw that both Riku and Jim were smirking."Uh…what?"

"Ventus, you just gave me an idea," Riku said, but we need to get past the pirates first…"

Ventus still hadn't caught onto their plan yet, but he decided to wait with his questions until after they had finished formulating their plan.

Ben was standing nearby. He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I think you guys could use some quiet time to get all this planning underway, soooo, I'll just slip out the backdoor."

All of them turned to the robot. 

"Backdoor?" Jim asked with a grin.

"Uh…yeah, let me show you." The robot showed them a trapdoor that lead to an underground warehouse full of machines. Ventus's mouth hung open when he saw all of the machines. "What is all this stuff?" His voice echoed into the expanse.

"You mean all these machines in this space that goes throughout the entire planet? No idea! Not the slightest clue," Ben said with a shrug.

"I think we can use this to our advantage," Riku said with a smirk.

"Let´s go and get that map guys!" Jim jumped down into the expanse.

Ventus turned to the robot. "Stay here, and guard this place."

Ben nodded and watched as Ventus followed his friends.

xXx

The two of them walked through the expanse, batting cobwebs and stumbling over metal pieces as they made their way underground. It wasn't long before they came to another door. Riku pushed it open, and they were surprised to find that it let out right in front of the pirate's camp.

Riku peered above the door and looked around. The pirates were sleeping, and from the smell of it, it appeared as though they were a little drunk too. He pushed the door all the wide open so he, Ventus and Jim could slip through the opening. Jim signed to Riku and Ven to throw the ropes on the ground up to the boat soaring up overhead. When they had done so, they pulled it down close enough for them to board.

Once onboard, they quietly went to the storage area of the boat. When were there, Jim decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to "fix" some things on board that may help them later on.

"Ven, you disarm the canons." He then pointed at himself and Riku. "We'll find the map. Then, we'll meet on the deck."

Ven nodded and made his way toward the canons. Riku and Jim walked toward the room where the map had been dropped earlier.

Ventus found the canons and he summoned his Keyblade. "Let´s see how fast I can wreck this thing," he said with a smirk. After few attacks with his keyblade, he stood back and admired his handiwork. After the damage he had done, the pirates wouldn´t be able shoot off a single canon.

Ventus turned on his heels and ran toward the deck where they agreed to meet. He found his friends standing there already, but they looked forlorn. "What´s wrong?"

"The map is gone," Riku said with clenched fists. "Someone came before us."

"Looking for this?" A familiar voice was behind him.

All of them looked up at the masts, and there stood Scroop with the map!

"He has the map!" Ventus cried. Ventus and Riku summoned their Keyblades, ready to battle him in order to get the map back.

The red spider laughed. "I have been looking forward to killing you all." He jumped down, and attacked with a speed that Riku almost dropped his weapon. He adjusted his grip on the Keyblade, and made a slash at Scroop who quickly draw back and attacked again.

Ventus ran toward them with Jim right behind him, Ventus threw his Wayward Wind Keyblade after the spider and it hit, but it only caused Scroop to get angry, and redirect his attack at him.

With a surprised yelp, Ventus turned and ran, trying to get away from Scroops sharp claws.

Scroop cursed as he couldn´t catch up with the blond boy, he haven´t expected at this brat was faster than him. "Get back here!"

Ventus looked desperately for something that could kill, or at least knock Scroop out! He knew he was fast, but he could only keep it up for a limited amount of time.

"Ven!" Jim cried. He was standing near the wheel. Ven saw what Jim was about to do, and nodded. Riku and Jim's eyes met, and Riku nodded as well, as he stood his ground, waiting for the right moment to attack.

Jim turned off the gravity field around the ship and everyone started to float.  
>Scroop yelped in surprise, and he saw Ventus who threw his Keyblade at the spider so he flew towards Riku. Jim turned the gravity field on again just as Riku made the final strike to Scroop's back. <p>

Scroop fell forward like a ragdoll.

Riku withdrew his Keyblade up from the body and smiled at the other two who cheered about the win.

Jim took the map out of Scroop's jacket, and they made their way back through the trap door to return to Sora, Kairi and Ben.

xXx

But when they returned, they little did they know that the Pirates had been aware of their plan the entire time. The pirates had surrounded Ben's house, and had captured Sora and Kairi, holding them both at sword point. Disappointed, Riku, Jim and Ventus were forced to give up.

John Silver laughed, and took the map from Jim. "You're just like me, Jimbo; you hate to lose. I had a feeling you didn´t have the map, all I had to do was wait for you to get it back for me!"

John smirked and tried open the map, but it wouldn´t budge. It wouldn't show him the treasure no matter how hard he tried. John looked at the map furiously for a moment before turning to Jim. "Open it, or else."

Jim swallowed. He looked over at Sora who spoke evenly, despite the sward that was being held against his throat. "It's your choice, Jim. Don´t worry about us."

Ventus secretly wished he was as brave as Sora, but he really wasn't interested in dying at the hand of a pirate.

Jim sighed and opened the map. The map lighted up, and in an array of dots and lines, the map revealed the location of the treasure.

John Silver grinned and ordered his men to bind Sora and company, but then Jim closed the map. "If you want the treasure, you're going to have to take us with you."

John sighted. "Fine. Get them together."

xXx 

They followed the light toward a great plane, but soon, they approached a cliff. Jim walked toward the edged of the cliff and dropped the map in off the edge into a crevice. After a few moments, the space lit up, and an enormous portal appeared.

In the center, a treasure planet was projected.

Jim smiled at Sora. "This is the portal Flint used to get all the treasures!"

Sora smiled with a nod "So all the stories you heard were true after all!"

Jim nodded, but John pushed past them, he didn´t really care how Flint got the treasure, he just wanted to know where it was hidden. "But where is his treasure trove?"

Jim thought about it and smiled pressed treasure planet projection in the middle of the portal, and the crevice in the ground opened up to reveal the center of the planet; it was covered in gold!

It didn't take the pirates long to start playing in the gold. They dove into the large piles and stuffed it into their coat pockets. It seemed as if they had completely forgotten about Jim and the Keyblade wielders.

Ben scratched his head. "Um guys, I've got a déjà vu feeling…"

Ventus opened his mouth to respond, but he was interrupted when Kairi gasped.

"Hey guys," she called from her position by the ship.

They ran to the ship and standing next to a slightly uncomfortable looking Kairi was Captain Flint...or rather what was left of him.

"Um… I wasn't expecting this…you…you lost weight."

Captain Flint's skeleton was perched in the pile of treasure. In his outstretched hand was a piece of metal.

"I think…we may have found the other part of your brain…" Ventus said shuddering a little. He gingerly plucked the piece of metal from his hand and placed it on Ben's head.

After a few moments, the piece fused to his head; the wires connected in a series of sparks and snaps. His eyes went dull for a moment before they lit up.

"Hey I was thinking…" Ben almost tackled Jim. "Oh my gosh! My memories are back!"

Jim attempted to pry the robot away. The others were laughing too hard to help. Suddenly Ben stopped his joyful squeeze on Jim's neck. "I just remembered something… Flint set a terrible trap makes sure no one took his treasure… oh mama…"

A deep rumble seemed to overcome the planet.

Everyone froze, as a beam of light shot out from the crevice Jim had thrown the map into. Suddenly, a beast came from within. It was strange looking, but it was a monster unlike anything Ventus or the others have seen before. It was not a Heartless, or a Nobody or Unversed. It looked like a giant squirt with long claws and red skin. Its body was covered in gold. Though it was ferocious, it looked like it was dying…part of its body was fading.

The creature turned all its six eyes to the intruders, Ventus eyes widened when he saw that this monster had eyes like a human. Perhaps at one point in time, it had been human. It roared and jumped towards the skeleton of Captain Flint. When the two connected, the skeleton began to move.

"Move! " Sora cried. Everyone jumped away from the boat just as one of the arms of the skeleton took a swing at them.

The eyes in the skeleton returned; they were the same eyes that the beast had. He took out his sword and pointed it towards the heroes. He moved his mouth, but no words came out; if they could be heard, they wouldn´t have been nice.

John Silver turned around. He dropped all the gold he had in his hands and his mouth hung open in disbelief. "By Davey Jones locker…" The other pirates saw it too but unlike John, they fled like the cowards they were.

Flint let out a baleful cry, and a lizard-like Heartless appeared. It was covered in gold. He jumped on its back.

All the Keyblade wielders summoned their Keyblades. Riku took the lead and had everyone spread out to attack the Heartless from every side. It was very easily confused. Flint stabbed the Heartless with his sword, and it roared, jumping high into the air. When it landed, a giant shockwave knocked the Keyblade wielders away, but it didn´t knock them out. Sora and Ventus looked at each other and together attacked with the element of Light. The attack was so powerful, the Heartless landed unconscious, giving the others a chance to attack its master, Flint. But Flint created another shockwave with his sword and they fell to the ground. When they got to their feet again, the Heartless was up again.

"Do that again lads!"

The Keyblade wielders turned to John Silver who had a powerful gun aimed at Captain Flint. "I will take care of that ghost of Flint!"

"Right!" Sora said, and they attacked again. This time, when the Heartless fell, John shot Flint with his gun, and the skeleton was knocked over. Jim grabbed a sword from the pile of metal, and pieced the skeleton with it, right in the place where the heart should have been.

Flint screamed in pain and sliced after Jim, who quickly jumped away. The Heartless screamed as well, and with the combined force of Sora, Riku, Kairi and Ventus, the Heartless fell, and the heart was released.

"We did it!" Ventus cheered, but Riku stopped them. "Look," he said and nodded toward the still moving skeleton. They walked slowly toward it. Ventus almost felt sorry for the dying creature. Flint's bones were shattered all over, so there was nothing to keep the monster inside anymore. The gelatinous monster removed itself from the skeleton, as the bones faded into dust. The monster turned toward them with eyes full of hatred and attacked with its arm. The Keyblade wielders jumped away from it. John released another shoot from his gun, and the creature fell to pieces. It faded like Flint had, still eyes full of rage.

Ventus turned to Sora. "What was that?"

"I-I don´t know," Sora stuttered. He wasn't sure what he had just seen.

"I'd rather not run into those things again before we get more information," Riku added. "I just got a weird feeling that that thing once was human."

Jim nodded slowly; he turned to John and thanked him for the help. John nodded back but jumped when the planet suddenly began to shake again. It looked as if everything was starting to break apart at the core.

"Let´s get out from here, before it blows!" Sora called. Everyone, including John Silver and Ben jumped aboard the boat.

They flew at a high speed away from the planet. Ben calculated their speed and distance." Uh…friends, we won´t get away in time!"

"WHAT?" Came the collective shout from the crowd. Kairi looked over the edge.

"He´s right, we need another way to get away!"

Thinking quickly, Jim began to build a surfboard from scrap metal he found on board. He turned to Sora who was navigating. "Turn it around, toward the portal!"

"But won't that lead us back toward the explosion?"

"Yes but I have an idea!"

John understood. He grabbed the wheel from Sora, and smoothly turned the ship around. "Let's get them toward the portal!"

Jim jumped over the edge, and quickly finished his surfer.

Ventus stood and watched Jim fly toward the portal, but soon the Heartless arrived.

"Not now!" Riku shouted. He took the wheel from Sora. "Sora, see you can find something to help—what is he´s doing?" He saw Ventus as he jumped off of the boat following Jim. He was wearing his full armor, riding along on his Keyblade Glider.

Kairi turned to Sora. "Did you know he could do that?"

Sora shook his head.

Ventus attacked the Heartless following Jim before they got their claws into him. Jim turned to Ventus and quickly thanked him before they both focused on getting to the portal. Ventus kept destroying the Heartless, keeping them away from Jim. Jim needed enough time to open up another portal to another place.

At another place in the galaxy, a portal opened, and in a burst of flames, the ship carrying the Keyblade wielders, Jim, Captain John Silver and his crew, and Ben came through. They were all safe!

"Yes! We did it!" Ventus yelled. The others on the boat cheered too, excited that they had survived.

xXx 

Once they arrived at the spaceport, it was decided that it was time for Sora and company to leave. Before they did so, they gave their map to John Silver and Jim. Captain Silver had managed to hang on to some of the gold, and they gave this to Jim.

"This gold should help you rebuilt Admiral Benbow. It may bring the smile back to her face, eh?" Jim smiled, but it turned to surprise when the map lit up and projected an enormous keyhole.

Riku smirked and Sora used his Keyblade. A flash of light came from the tip to the keyhole and a new pathway was opened. He turned to Jim and John. "We have to leave now, other words are calling."

Jim shook their hands. "Do I get to see you guys again?"

Sora smiled "Sure!"

Ventus smiled cheerfully and placed his hands behind his head. This adventure had been awesome, but still looked forward to saving Terra.


	3. Agrabah

The keyhole opened a new path to another world, it would be difficult to find Xehanort or Terra in all of the worlds, so they decided to split up, especially since they were all familiar with the worlds now.

Ventus and Riku traveled in a small, but fast Gummiship to Agrabah. Sora had been there numerous times before, but Riku and Ven knew little about this place other than the name.

They landed near the big castle gates. Ventus, who had always has been really curious boy, began to explore the world immediately after they landed. "Where do they get all the sand from?" He picked up a large handful.

"There has always been sand in this world," Riku responded in a bored tone. He began to walk away. "Try to keep up."

It wasn't long before they made their way to the Market. Sora had told them about someone he knew that might be able to help them. "Do you remember that guy Sora said could help us? What's his name again?

Riku rolled his eyes and walked past Ventus. "It´s Aladdin." This boy was just as inquisitive as Sora, but he looked so much like someone else he knew…

Aladdin was tucked away in an alley way when he heard Riku speak his name. It was fairly obvious that the duo walking around in the area weren't around, so he came out to greet them.

Riku stopped. As soon as he came up. "Are you Aladdin?"

He nodded. "Yes, that´s me. And who are you?"

"I´m Riku, a friend of Sora, and this," he turned toward Ventus who was watching the monkey by Aladdin's left foot with extreme interest. He looked up when he heard his name.

"Hi!"

"…Is Ventus."

Aladdin laughed. "He remains me of Sora." He turned to Riku again. "Sora has told me a lot about you. I´m glad he found you."

Riku snorted. "Actually, it was me who found him. Anyway, have you seen, or ever heard of a guy named Terra? Have you seen anything uncommon?"

"Sorry guys," Aladdin said with a shrug. "But I've never heard about any Terra."

Ventus lowered his head sadly. Why was there no trace of his friend? Where could Terra be, and why didn´t he show himself after so long of being separated from him and Aqua?

They thanked Aladdin and chose do some recon in the world before leaving; just to be sure everything was okay. 

Ventus and Riku made their way to the Bazaar, where Ventus bought an apple from a dark haired girl at a stand. He looked at Riku who was perched on the crate next to him, deep in thought.

"Whsht on yhour mnd?" Ventus asked, with his mouth full of apple. Riku quirked a brow at him, and Ventus swallowed the food and asked again. "What are you thinking about?"

Riku shrugged "Lots of things, but mostly why Xehanort hasn´t shown up at all. Surely he's still alive. There's no way he could be gone, not after the powers he showed me in the sleeping worlds."

"Is it really that bad though? I mean, wouldn´t it be better if he just stayed away and left the Light alone?"

Riku sighed. "Ven, I´m not sure you understand the-"

Suddenly people started screaming, and running through the streets. A herd of Nobodies and Heartless began appearing at an alarming rate.

Riku and Ventus summoned their Keyblades and attacked the creatures of the Dark. Ventus had never seen such as Nobodies before. They were stronger than Unversed yet familiar too…

He lost focus as a memory made itself present in his mind's eye. He was fighting against some white things…A Nobody, a dusk of the lowest level, controlled by the members of the Organization XIII.

He shook his head and the memory faded. He had to focus on the battle at hand. He fired a fire a ball at some of the Nobodies he somehow knew were Dancers, controlled by... what was the name again? Demyx? Why were Dancers here? Their former master was gone. How did he know all this anyway?

Riku killed the last of the Heartless and turned to Ventus, who stood with his hand against his forehead; he was still being plagued by memories.

"What´s wrong with you?" Riku asked a little harshly.

Ventus shook his head trying to shake the thoughts away. "Nothing, it's just a little headache."

"What did you see?" Riku swallowed. Could it be? No, that wasn't possible.

"What?" The blond boy looked at the older one with a confused look.

Riku walked toward him "What did you see, Ventus?"

The blond was a little surprised at Riku's sudden inquiry. "It was a-about those t-things. They are called Nobodies… what is the Organization XIII?"

"Great," Riku said with a sigh. He walked away from Ventus and sat down on the wall. "If you get more of these visions, do me a favor, and forget them. They won´t be of any use to you." 

Riku rubbed his eyes. He couldn´t believe this. How could Ventus have those memories? Shouldn´t they be with Sora?

Ventus looked at Riku with confusion, but nodded anyway. "…Okay…"

They sat in silence until a voice from just behind them called. "Roxas?"

Riku fought the urge to facepalm, and turned around to see who had said it.

Ventus turned around too and stared blankly when the person who had called turned out to be addressing him. "Excuse me?"

The person calling was a young man. He rubbed the back of his head. "Not this again…" He laughed in embarrassment and walked toward them. He gave Riku a quick hello, which went ignored by the silver haired Keyblade wielder. He turned to Ventus."Don´t you recognize me, Rox? It´s me, Demyx!"

Ventus titled his head to the side. Roxas? The name sounded familiar, but he had no idea who this person was.

"Aw… that´s too bad," Demyx said with a sigh. "But we didn´t really talk back then, so I guess I can understand."

"You´re kind of weird…" Ventus said with a laugh. He put his hands behind his head.

"Are you sure you´re Demyx?" Riku asked with suspicion. "If I remember correctly; he had pale skin, not dark brown skin." This person addressing himself as "Demyx" looked human, but he wanted to be sure. He didn't trust Nobodies, even if they did have a heart.

The man in question grinned. "That´s true, my skin and hair was lighter back then but now I´m human again!" He laughed before adding, "oh, my name isn´t Demyx anymore. It's Myde."

Ventus smiled. He didn't know much about Nobodies. "Nice to meet you, Myde! I´m Ventus but most people just call me Ven."

Myde stared at him. "Huh? Ventus? How can that name become Roxas?"

"Who´s Roxas?"

"You!" Myde laughed.

Ventus shook his head. "No way!"

Riku rolled his eyes but somehow he couldn´t help but smile. Ventus looked upward to the setting sun and asked Myde "Do you know a place where we can rest, Myde? It´s getting dark."

The former Nobody invited them back to his house where they could rest for the night. They followed him to the simple but beautiful house. Myde lit a few candles, which took him some time since his former element was water, so Riku helped him as Ventus sat down at the table.

"Thanks.. um Rikki?"

"Riku. So is this where you live now?"

"Yeah, it´s not much, but it is home." Myde took some powder up from a little packet he had in his pocket. "The princess; Jasmine gave all the towns people. It's powder to help build bigger fires." He showed it to the Keyblade wielders. "It should be better than normal powder"

Ventus took some of the powder, and looked at it. "It looks like normal powder, if you ask me."

"Yeah, I thought so too at first, but watch." He put some of it on the fire, and it began to burned brighter. "I bet you guys are hungry. I'm not much of a chef, but I'll see if I can get you guys something."

While Myde cooked and while they ate, Ventus chatted in a lively tone with him. Riku still wasn't sure he trusted him, but he couldn't stop Ventus from talking chattering with the former Nobody. It was just Ventus's personality.

Ventus asked Myde about Terra and even Xehanort but Myde hadn´t heard anything about them. He promised that if he saw him that he would tell him they were looking for him.

Ventus smiled cheerfully, and was about to begin asking more questions when the fire from the candles suddenly began acting strange. Myde almost fell from his chair when he saw a plume of smoke rise from the candle and take the shape of something.

As it formed, creating more smoke, it made its way over to the corner by Myde's sitar. It picked it up with one of its crudely formed hands.

"Hey, give it back!" Myde cried, running after the smoke creature. Ventus and Riku followed, but out before Ventus grabbed the powder form the table. They would need to tell this Princess Jasmine about it.

xXx

Myde was standing outside the palace gates. He was distraught about losing his precious sitar to the smoke creature.

"Why didn´t you just throw some water on it when it started to take it?" Riku said.

Myde gave a humorless laugh. "I´m not a Nobody anymore, so my powers are gone, duh."

Riku rolled his eyes and walked to Ventus who was looking at the sand where the ash monster had passed through. The blond keyblade wielder rubbed it between his fingers. "This isn´t normal magic."

"You´re right," Riku agreed. "This reeks of Darkness."

"What shall we do Riku?" Ven asked.

Riku looked toward the palace. "First, we need to tell Aladdin and Jasmine about this."

They walked to the castle and told Aladdin and Jasmine what they just had witnessed. It was unbelievable at first, so Ventus decided to show them what had happened. He threw some of the powder into the fire, and another smoke creature appeared. It took some of the palace gold and would have flown away with it if Genie hadn't stopped it. it took the genie quite a fight, but least he got the smoke creature stuffed down in a jar and cowered the hole with a middle size stone so the creature could escape.

Now they all stood, and tried to figure out what to do.

"We should release it… "Aladdin said, folding his arms.

Iago flew into the room and landed on Riku´s shoulder. "Someone is feeling generous today." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Riku flicked the bird from his shoulder. "Hardly. It's so we can follow it."

Genie released the creature from the jar, and it started to float away. Ventus, Riku and Aladdin followed it outside, all the way out into the city, where it finally went into an old abandoned house.

Inside, they saw the local bandit Abis Mal with money from all the townspeople. Standing next to him was Pete.

"Look at all this goodies!" The bandit cheered. He threw some of the gold into the air. "And we didn´t lift a finger to get it!"

Pete laughed "Haha! And it's all thanks to my plan!"

"Hey you!" Riku called.

Pete turned around and almost jumped in shock when he saw who it was, but instead he laughed. "Yup and this time I win, thanks to my brilliant plan!"

Riku didn´t look at all impressed.

Ventus smirked. He remembered Pete from his visit to Disney Town many years ago. Pete hadn't changed one bit!

Pete rambled a bit more about his power and brilliance, but Ventus and Riku didn´t bother to listen, because Aladdin attacked the bandit Abis Mal. He was just as much of a weakling as Pete, and it didn´t take long before both of them were defeated.

Abis Mal had had enough of them. "Attack them, my smoke monsters!" he called the smoke creatures that flew in and joined to become one large smoke creature. Unfortunately, neither he nor Pete had control of them anymore, and it attacked the duo. It waved its huge arm and slammed the both of them into the wall.

Ventus stared at them with titled head. "…I´m not sure they deserved that…"

"We have bigger problems to worry about!"

Ventus turned and the smoke monster showed itself as a Heartless!

It burst through the hut and made its way through the city, Ventus, Riku and Aladdin chased after it. They met Myde along the way.

"That thing is starting fire all over the city!" The former Nobody cried out.

"We'll stop it!" Ventus said. He and Riku ran toward the smoke creature with Keyblade in hand. Myde stood and watched them. He couldn't do much to help, so he went to find his sitar.

Ventus and Riku arrived in the town square. Ventus was riding on his Keyblade glider and Riku rode atop Carpet. Riku rode right up to the smoke Heartless and attacked, but his Keyblade went right through the Heartless. He tried kill it with his strongest blizzard spell but not even that worked against this Heartlsss. How could you kill something made out of smoke?

Ventus dodged the Heartless's fits and flew over the fire the Heartless had set on, it feed on the smoke from all the fires around the city.  
>"We have to extinguish the fire!" Ventus cried.<p>

"I already tried that," Riku shouted angrily after trying shoot countless Blizzard spells at the fire but it succeed just like it did against the Heartless."But be my guest, and try again." 

Ventus glared at him, however he chose ignore the sarcasm.

He knew they needed water; and a lot of it. He winced when another memory from his past started to block his focus. Someone who looked just like Myde with pale skin and dirty blond hair summoned a blue sitar. He played it, and it created a source of water that destroyed the Heartless around him. Those Heartless had a flame within them that was easily extinguished with the water. His human self could might help them.

xXx

"No way, uh uh! I´m NOT going out there!" Myde yelled. He was terrified of the giant Heartless and angry that Ventus would even ask HIM kill it. "I mean look at it!" he pointed toward the smoke Heartless. It almost knocked Aladdin and Riku out with its powerful fire punch.

Ventus could see what he meant, but they really needed him.

"We need your help," Ventus said still eyes locked on the Heartless. "You´re the only one who can extinguish so much fire."

The Keyblade wielder turn to Myde.

The former Nobody whined "I told you, Ventus! I can´t. create WATER!"

The blond keyblade wielder stayed calm. He knew Myde knew he still could but he was afraid; afraid knowing of knowing that he was still different from the people in this world.

"We both know you still can. Powers like that don´t vanish into thin air. Demyx lives inside of you, you can't help that. Embrace your power; you can still do great things."

Myde's eyes opened wide."How did you know that?"

To be honest, Ventus had no idea how he knew but if it could get Demyx´s somebody to help them…

"I just do. Will you help us?"

Myde turned toward the Heartless. He sighed and shook his head with a faint smile on his lips. "I´m not cut out to-"

"—To combat, I know!" he exclaimed. Myde was surprised, but Ventus continued. One of his memories was taking over. "Demyx was a coward and he tried his best to be like you. He wanted to be like his old self; Myde. I don´t think you are a coward; you just need a good reason to fight. Well there is one now. Your friends need you!"

Myde was frozen. He stared with a gaping mouth at the Keyblade wielder. Slowly, he started nodding. "I- I hate fighting, but… I can if I have to."

Ventus smiled. "That´s why they wanted you."

xXx 

Riku and Aladdin tried with all of their might to kill the Heartless, but they had very little effect on it.

It was when all hope seemed lost that Ventus and Myde arrived. Myde gave a single nod to Ventus and they both dashed toward the Heartless, Ventus used his keyblade gilder to get within the Heartless's eyesight and fought it like Aladdin and Riku already had.

"Where have you been?" Riku shouted.

Ventus smiled. "I Got some support."

Riku saw Myde who was controlling the water from a barrel. It sloshed upward and he tried to throw it at the Heartless. When it made contact, the real body of the Heartless was exposed of a striking red colors. Unfortunately, the Heartless saw him and attacked. Ventus rolled his eyes when he saw Myde run for his life just like Demyx often did when the situation became a little difficult.

"Yeah that´s really a big help," Riku muttered.

Ventus snorted. "Hey! At least it worked…kind of!"

Riku flew down to the spot Myde had revealed on the Heartless with Carpet. A weak spot had been revealed.

Myde had returned from his flee."Did it work?" His voice was shaking.

Riku sighed. "Yes, it worked, but only for a short time. If you keep throwing water at this thing, we can destroy it."

"What? You´ve gotta be kidding!" Myde whined. He didn't want to go out there and fight, but Riku's cold stare told him he would be doing exactly the opposite of what he wanted to do. "Alright I'll do it, but you two better not let that thing get me!

Ventus smiled and gave him thumbs up. "You got it"

Myde ran toward the Heartless with the two Keyblade wielders by his side. He called the water around him with a sweeping motion and attacked the Heartless with a great force. It wasn't long before Riku and Ventus were able to sink their Keyblades into the Heartless.

The Heartless fell and the hearts it had taken were released.

Everyone in Agrabah could relax, and no one was more pleased to know this was true than Myde. He had found his sitar and began to play.

"No matter what anyone says, I still hate missions!"

Ventus laughed."Sure thing, but you did a great job back there."

"Thanks!" Myde said with a grin.

Riku chuckled. He was sitting a few meters away from them, but he was still a little worried about the memories Ventus kept having. What if some of Sora's Nobody had come to be inside that boy?

Roxas could be really dangerous, especially because as Sora's Nobody, he could know Sora's weaknesses. But as far Riku could see, Sora's Nobody wasn't causing too many issues for now.

"Are you sure you´re not Roxas?" Myde asked, looking up from his sitar.

Ventus nodded. "I´m sure. Why?"

Myde rose from his seat.

"Only he, and the other members of the Organization knew about my Nobody. How did you know?

Ventus rubbed the back of his head. "I think I just guessed."

"Oh… um okay…" Myde turned back to his sitar, Riku walked toward them.

"It´s time to go," Riku said with a sigh. "We still need find Terra."

Ventus nodded and followed Riku back to the ship. He turned to Myde "See ya later!"

Myde laughed. "Sure Ven, or should I say Roxas?"

Ventus laughed but he said nothing, because deep inside of him, he knew the name and he knew Demyx, it was just not clear for him yet.


	4. Enchanted Dominion

Ventus and Riku flew inside their Gummyship on the way to the next world. They agreed to meet Sora and Kairi where they were. Apparently there was something of urgent importance Sora needed to tell them about a certain person with blue hair and an "X" shaped scar.

Ventus immediately knew they were talking about his friend Isa. When Sora said he had been under the control of Maleficent, he was completely convinced it was his old friend.  
>"I don´t know how he were when you first met him Ven. But that man is bad news"<br>Ventus shook angry his head "No! Isa is still the same I met my first visit in Radiant Garden!"

"Didn´t Lea tells you he´d changed?" Riku asked.

Ventus wasn't in the listening mood, because he was still bent on finding his friend.

"They still the same!" Ventus scowled. He turned and locked his anger filled eyes on Riku, but after a moment, it turned to worry. "They're…just lost. He´s just lost inside the Darkness."

Riku nodded slowly. This was obviously a very sensitive topic for him. Besides, Riku himself has been trapped in Darkness and escaped it, thanks to his friends. "Come on. Let´s find Sora and Kairi," he said calmly.

They exited the Gummyship, and made their way out into the forest surrounding a great castle. They were to meet Sora and Kairi at the castle, where one of the Princesses of Hearts lived.

It didn't take them much time to walk through the forest. They made their way to the castle, and through the great hall. On a throne of pure gold stood the king, queen and their daughter Aurora; one of the Princesses of Heart. Sora and Kairi were already there talking with the royal family.

"I`m surprised at you young ones knows about her weak condition," the king said with a frown.

Sora nodded. "Trust me, we wouldn´t have known if someone hadn't dolt us." He turned to Ventus and Riku who entered the room. "Someone who I originally thought was one of the bad guys."

"Who was it?" Riku asked.

"We don´t know his real name," Kairi said. "But he had an eye patch and a nasty scar on his left cheek." She turned to Ventus. "He said you knew both his names."

Everyone turned to look at him. Ventus clenched his fists and shook with anger. It was apparent that this man had done something terrible.

"Braig…" Ventus growled. "Thanks to him, Terra is..."

Riku placed a hand on his shoulder, and the younger boy relaxed. "Don´t worry Ven, we'll get him."

Kairi smiled. It was nice seeing Riku become a little more friendly. She then turned to princess Aurora."Where is she? Maleficent I mean."

The princess smiled "This way, chosen ones." She calmly led the group outside.

Soon they were all standing in front of a wall of green fire. This was Maleficent´s lair. Aurora stopped. "I can´t go further, sorry."

Sora smiled. "You've done enough for us already, thank you."

Aurora smile. "It's the least I can do. You all have done so much for me." She turned and headed back toward the throne room.

The wall of fire couldn´t be vanquished with spells, so Sora used his Kingdom Key to open the doors of the fiery wall.

This part of the castle was vastly different from section they had just exited. It was dark, dreary, and unwelcoming form of a old stronghold.

"Nice way to say 'welcome in'" Riku said dryly when an arsenal of goons attacked them.

Sora nodded and summoned his Keyblade. It didn't take long for them to do away with the weak guards. When they defeated the first batch, another set came in. They were much more troublesome this time, because there were more.

One came up behind Sora and would have delivered a nasty blow if Riku hadn't blocked the attack with his arm.

Sora turned around. "Riku! Are you alright?"

Riku nodded. "It's fine. I'll be alright."

They stopped right outside a garden to rest. Kairi used this opportunity to heal the wound on Riku's arm. It wasn't serious but he couldn´t risk being wounded in a fight against Maleficent or worse… Isa.

They only had a little reprieve when Ventus heard the sound of falling stones.

"We´re not alone," Sora said quietly.

For a moment, nothing happed and for a second, the Keyblade masters were about to take a sigh of relief. It wasn't until the sound of a fight in the distance did they find out the source of the noise. They looked up at the fortress just beyond the garden. In the broken window on the top floor was reddish light coupled with a battle cry from the goons.

Ventus leapt to his feet and ran toward the place. He was shortly followed by Sora and his friends. He had a feeling he knew who was fighting the goons, and he wanted to help more than anything.

Once inside the room, Ventus looked on with his mouth agape. All the weak goons were all over the floor, moaning in pain. Some were unconscious though. Riku poked one of the goons with his shoe.

"Looks like someone came before us."

"I think I know who did this," Ventus said. He turned toward main castle. "And he´s really mad too! We gotta hurry before something bad happens!"

xXx

Inside the throne room Maleficent stood. She heard footsteps so she slowly turned around. Ventus was standing behind her. "Are you the one who ruined my great castle?" She spoke evenly, but her voice was tinted with anger.

"No, but I know who it was, and he´s like me; looking for Isa."

The witch smirked. "Oh Ventus, I didn´t know you were friends with him. He has never mention you, so maybe he doesn't want you as friend."

Ventus ran up her. "That´s a lie!"  
>He summoned his Keyblade and attacked her, but before his blade could connect, another blade blocked the attack.<p>

It was Isa.

Ventus called to him in surprise, but Isa didn´t seem to recognize him. He knocked Ventus back, an emotionless expression on his face. He kneeled beside Maleficent.

Ventus rose from the floor, and when Sora and the rest arrived, he didn't address them. He kept his eyes locked on Isa´s.

The man's eyes were yellow, but Ventus could see the pupil was almost gone; it was like a web was over them "Isa… What have you done to him?" He shouted to the witch.

Maleficent smirked and turned to Isa. "I only did what he asked for. When Isa came to me, he had no control of his anger or the Darkness in his heart."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Like Riku, Isa has Darkness inside his heart, but he has never been able to control it so he asked me to do it."She walked past Isa. "Unfortunately his powers were more out of control than he thought. He thought he could walk away and handle this on his own, but this what´s happen if I release him!"

The green orb on her staff began to glow, and Darkness began to overtake Isa. Isa's eyes become completely yellow and he roared furiously.

Ventus had never seen Isa like that before. He backed away from him, but deep inside he knew what had happed to Isa; he had gone berserk.

Isa jumped in the air and called forth his claymore. With a roar he threw it at Sora who dodged, but before the boy could get away Isa landed on the ground. He picked up his weapon, and attacked him again.

Riku and Ventus both casted the shield spell to keep the blow from landing. Isa recoiled, and it wasn't long before he started attacking again. He was completely out of control.

Suddenly the Darkness flow around him stopped, and he stood like a zombie. Riku, Sora and Ventus stared in surprise, and slowly lowered their weapons.

They turned to Maleficent who was laughing. "Do you see? He will never win over the Darkness in his heart. Isa will forever be loyal to me and the Darkness!" She laughed at them and Ventus wished he just could attack her to make her shut up, but he couldn´t for she would just drag Isa in the battle again and he can´t hurt a friend…

"NO! Leave my friend alone!" Someone behind them yelled. It was Lea, and he was really angry.

Maleficent even looked surprised at his sudden arrival. "So you are the so called 'friend' I heard so much about."

Lea glared at her. "That´s me alright, but did he forget to tell you I could kick your-"

"Imbecile!" Maleficent interjected. Do you really think you can defeat me?"

"Well, you're about to find out." He stretched out his arms, and his chakrams appeared. He turned his head slightly to the Keyblade wielders. "Leave this to me. You have done enough."

Sora didn´t seems sure. "Are you sure you can handle this?"

Lea laughed. "Sora Sora. You forget who I am." He bent into a battle stance. "Someone like her is nothing to a former Nobody!"

Sora dispersed his Keyblade. "Okay…"

Lea looked at Maleficent. A smirk was on his face, but his tone was completely serious. "This is for almost destroying our home and controlling Isa´s heart! I´ll annihilate you!"

Lea attacked Maleficent, but before he could land a solid attack, she dispersed herself in a flurry of green fire. She appeared again on the balcony. "If you want kill someone, you can always start with him."

Again she released the Darkness in Isa's heart, and he once again went berserk.

Lea turned to Sora "You four take that witch, I will handle Isa"

"But he will kill you!" Kairi said, worry in her voice.

Lea smiled to her "No he won't. " he turned but stopped when Ventus stepped in front of him.

"What?" The redhead asked. That stare looked so familiar, but the person it belonged to was long gone now.

Ventus kept staring at him. "I´m going with you."

Lea frowned, but before Lea could say "no" he added, "he´s my friend too!"

Lea sighed. "Let´s go." He turned to Sora. "Can you three handle this?"

Sora smiled "Sure!" He and his friends ran toward the place where the witch disappeared to.

Lea and Ventus ran toward Isa who was doing a great job destroying the place. There was rubble and soot everywhere. It was difficult to see.

Lea jumped up without any hesitation, and shouted, "Isa, stop it!"

His friend wouldn´t or couldn´t listen. Madness had taken over his friend.

Lea and Isa had fought many times before, but this was a fight between life and death. This time, Lea wouldn´t run away.

"I know you´re in there, so stop before you kill someone!" He threw his weapons into the air hoping to land a hit. It made contact, but only briefly.

"Ven, I do this, alone," Lea said to Ventus.

Ventus glared at him, but it quickly changed to a more friendly face as Lea said "Like you, I can´t go against my heart's command, this is something I have to do alone."

Ventus nodded in understanding. He dispersed his Keyblade in a screen of light. Lea nodded and turned back to Isa. "You hear that? I won't stop fighting until you're back in the Light!" With those words, Lea dashed toward Isa and attacked at full speed. Lea jumped into the air at the last moment, and attacked with his chakrams.

When he landed, he muttered a quiet "forgive me."

Isa was holding a wound on his side with his hand. He fell to the ground with blood soaking the cloak. Lea felt as well with a wound on the side of his arm.

Ventus ran toward Lea. "Are you okay?"

"I´ll be alright…" They both turned to the fallen Isa. "…But I not sure about…" He couldn´t finish his sentence.

Ventus didn´t want to hear the rest anyway. Lea gently nudged Isa. "Hey," he said softly. He was afraid that he had hit harder than he thought.

Ventus kneeled beside the fire wielder, and they were both thrilled to see Isa move slightly with a groan. He was his old self again, save for his amber eyes.

"Are you alright?" Lea asked. Isa nodded silently but he muttered a quiet, "I´m sorry… I almost killed you…"

Lea dismissed the apologies with a wave of his hand. "You were under control, and besides, you didn´t kill me."

"…I wasn´t under her control the entire time."He sat up, and turned away from his friends. Ventus opened his mouth but he couldn't think of anything to say.

Lea in the other hand had plenty to say."I know it was your own Darkness, but this time you have friends!"He helped Isa up from the floor. "Oh and sorry about that hit I gave you back there. That was the only way though. And the way you were acting was not cool."

Isa nodded, he didn't smile. He let Lea support more of his weight as he limped outside the castle.

Ventus followed them "We can help you if you let us."

"But what if you get hurt?" The blue haired man asked. "I almost killed Lea… I don´t have any control over my Darkness…"

Lea grinned. "Hey you didn´t kill me. Controlled or not; that noble heart of yours is stronger than the Darkness."

Ventus laughed at Isa's reaction and added, "Maybe we should call him the noble warrior!"

"Sounds like a good idea!" Lea laughed.

"I´m not noble!" Isa exclaimed. "…I´m a monster…"

Lea just rolled his eyes. "If you were a monster I would never speak to you, got it memorized?"

Isa stayed silent.

They walked out of the castle and both Lea and Ventus were surprised when Isa stopped and turned back toward the castle."Wait."

"What´s wrong?" Ventus asked.

"There are two kids… they are her prisoners. She ordered me to…we have to save them!" He didn´t have to say it twice. Isa guided them to the castles dungeons. They could hear the low sound of sobbing.

Lea opened the door to the dungeon after Ventus opened it with his Keyblade. He saw two small children hugging each other in fear. The girl stared at him, more frightened than ever. This girl had long rose red hair and grey-blue eyes.

Lea carefully walked toward them, and put his hand out to her. "It´s okay. We´re here to save you."

The girl didn´t move but her brother looked at Lea. When their eyes met, the fire wielder almost jumped backward.

This boy was even at such a young age, was very beautiful. He had pale skin and short ice blue hair. His eyes, on the other hand, were what made Lea shiver. It was a blue unlike any he ever had seen.

They were so bright, they were scary. The boy's stare didn´t make it better. They kind of remained Lea of a certain pink haired Nobody he once knew.

Lea bit his lip and tried ignore this boys stare. "I'm here to save you."

"Lea watch out!" Ventus cried.

Lea heard the warning, and he moved just in time. Just in front of where he was standing was a pink scythe, embedded in the wall. The person holding the other end was none other than Marluxia.

He still looked different now. His long pink hair still went past his shoulders, but his blue eyes now had emotion. They were no longer an icy blue, but rather a dark sapphire color. He had exchanged his Organization cloak to a different outfit that made him look like the lord of some castle: multi-colored tunic with blue as the dominate color, armor on his torso and on the chest a crest with form as a rose, attached behind a long brown cape. Back when Lea was Axel, he had not really felt any hatred or dislike against this man. He couldn't after all. He didn't have emotions. But now; he felt the dislike against the man who thought he was higher in rank than everyone.

"And here I thought I got rid of you," Lea said with a smirk.

Marluxia sneered "I will not perish so easily." He removed his scythe from the wall and attacked Lea. He quickly jumped out of the way.

Ventus ran toward them, ready to help, but Isa stopped him with a weak "Wait."

"Why? Lea needs us!" Ventus said, his voice full of disbelief.

Isa shook his head. "I don´t think they will kill each other, they just need to straighten things out."

Ventus didn´t really understand, but didn´t move.

Lea landed few steps away from the Graceful Assassin. "Do you really think I've had gone soft in these past years?" The cocky grin didn't leave his face as he summoned his chakrams. "Think again."

Marluxia smirked "I must admit I had hoped, but this does make the so much revenge sweeter."

Lea grinned before he attacked and both of their weapons slashed loud together and the dance of death was on between them just like when there were Nobodies in Castle Oblivion.

"Why do I get the feeling I know this guy?" Ventus asked.

"Maybe someone else's memories try to tell you something," Isa suggested. He was sitting on the floor. His old wounds had reopened. "You just have to listen"

"…I don´t understand Isa…"

Isa laughed. "Someday you will, Ven. Someday you will."

Ventus sighed, and turned back to the fight. Isa's answer was a little annoying. Terra had also been like this. It made him wonder of Terra and Isa ever could have ever been friends. Sometimes they were so alike.

Lea and Marluxia had exchanged blows again, but neither of them broke the intense stare, for they both knew if either one showed any sign of weakness, the other would strike.

Lea grinned. "You've become stronger. I have never seen moves like that before."

Marluxia smiled. "You too, your fire is strong just like the heart you bear."

Lea chuckled, and attacked again, but as Isa watched the battle, he noticed that Marluxia wasn't letting their fight get anywhere near the children.

"Something is wrong…" Isa turned to Lea, locking eyes with him for a moment, giving him a silent message by looking at his friend and turning his eyes to where the kids were hiding.

Lea began understand what Isa was trying to say and he looked back at Marluxia."Why is it that you're keeping me away from the kids?"

Marluxia glared at him, but said nothing.

"Is that you want to use them like you used Naminé?"

"That´s none of your business," Marluxia said evenly, but he could recognize the ice in his voice.

"You´ know, it is my business because they are only kids!"

Ventus came up without Marluxia knowing it and carefully moved the children out of danger. It was just in time, because when Lea attacked Marluxia, the hit connected, sending Marluxia sailing into the wall of the dungeon.

The little girl and boy ran away from Ventus, back into the line of danger.

"It´s too dangerous," Ventus tried, but they continued on.

The girl just stared when Lea attacked Marluxia.

"Dad!" she cried.

Isa looked up in shock.

Lea stopped his attack. "Dad?"

Marluxia opened his eyes and swung his scythe at him, he was surprised that Lea hadn't even dodged it.

Lea quickly recovered but he didn't attack back. The boy and girl were now perched beside him. They held their arms over Marluxia to block any further blow from Lea. Marluxia whispered something to the children and they moved aside. He picked up his weapon. "This is between you and me." He glared at Lea.

Lea looked away from his opponent, dispersed his chakrams. "I won´t fight you…"

"And why´s that?" Marluxia asked dryly.

"I won´t kill their father." He nodded in the direction of the children. "I know what it´s like to lose a parent."

Marluxia sneered. "Oh poor Axel. Do you really think I don't know what will happen if I die?"

Lea glared. "But they don´t! They don´t understand! If you promise them you will be all right and chase the bad guys away, and you aren't able to do it, they'll think it's their fault!"

Ventus's eyes widened. Lea had lost his parents? No wonder he had changed so much.

Marluxia looked surprised at what Lea had said. He snorted and dispersed his weapon.

Lea looked over at Isa, but the blue haired man had passed out. "Isa!" he cried and ran to his friend. He was closely followed by Ventus. When they reached is side, Isa weakly opened his eyes. "I´m alright…just tired…"

Lea frowned. "I know how a bad liar you are." He looked down and saw that a sizeable amount of blood had pooled around him. "You need to see a doctor."

Ventus suddenly understood what Isa had meant. Wordlessly he turned to see where Marluxia had gone. He was walking away with his children at either side of him.

"Wait!"

The man stopped. "What is it you want?" He snapped.

"My friend needs help. Do you know where we can get him some medical attention…um…sir? "

The little girl looked up to her father. "Dad?"  
>Marluxia ignored Ventus and knelt down to his little girl. "What is it, sweetie?"<p>

"Is it the man with blue hair hurt?"

Marluxia frowned as his daughter continued."He was nice to us."

Her brother nodded in agreement. "He tried to protect us from the witch." He looked up to his father. "Maybe we should do something."

Marluxia sighed and looked at Ventus over his shoulder. "Alright. We'll take him to my home. Get him together. We'll take my coach."

Ventus grinned. "Thank you sir!" He bowed like he would before his master Eraqus.

Marluxia somebody smirked "Call me Lumaria 


	5. Returned Nobody

The carriage stopped at a mansion right at sunset. It was twice as big as the one in Twilight Town. It was a dark red color with a green roof. Large rose bushes lined the outside. Near the entrance was a garden full of all kinds of flowers.

Lumaria, Marluxias somebody hopped out of the carriage, and then he helped his children down. He motioned for the stable boys to come and take the horses back to their corrals.

Ventus and Lea jumped down from their horses as well. Ventus reached up to pet the horse before the horse was taken away. Lea helped the half conscious Isa from the carriage and nearly carried him inside.

Lumaria ordered the doctor to tend to Isa's wounds. The doctor tried to treat his own master's injuries first, but he refused. "Just make sure he doesn't die."

The shrugged and walked over to Isa. "Well let´s see what we've got…" He glanced over him and swallowed. "Well…let's put him in this room over here. He looks like living death."

Lea frowned. "Will he be alright?"

"Of course. My reputation wouldn't be worth much if I can't fix something like this."

xXx 

Ventus and Lea sat outside Isa's room. They waited impatiently for the doctor to deliver them the news about Isa's condition. When the doctor finally left the room, he told them that Isa would be fine. Both Lea and Ventus sighed in relief.

The doctor cleared his throat. "However, the Darkness in his heart is far more serious than any wound. It looks like any kind of strong emotion, such as…say anger… could trigger his rage again. He'll lose his humanity and he might kill anyone in his way."

Ventus didn´t like this at all. "You mean he'll go… berserk?"

The doctor shrugged "You can call it that if you want. Just make sure he doesn't get angry. Goodnight." He walked off down the hall.

"Just make sure nothing tick him off?" Lea snorted. "We'll that should be easy, especially since we're around someone as agreeable as Marluxia." He folded his arms.

"I thought his name was Lumaria…" Ventus said.

The fire wielder gave Ventus a small smile. "Different name, same rotten personality."

They then walked to the common room where Lumaria sat with his family.

Ventus quickly befriended the children. The little boy's name was Increpo and his younger sister was Narcissa. They eagerly showed him around the house. Lea watched them interact with Ventus for a moment before he turned to Lumaria who was sitting next to his wife.

A farmer had entered the house a few minutes later. Ventus heard the words being exchanged between the two of them so he returned to the room.

"Please understand sir," the farmer begged. "I only came to you as my last hope. I have tried everything, but they keep coming and I fear for—"

"Tell me what the problem is, and I'll see what I can do."

The poor farmer nodded and continued with a shaky voice. "He´s back sir. Ancar has returned!"

Lumaria's eyes become hard and filled with anger. This Ancar had angered the Lord of Thorns. "Interesting…I will handle it. The farmer thanked him and quickly left.

Lumaria looked to his wife who whispered something softly to him. He walked past Lea and Ventus, but Lea stopped him.

"And where are you going?"

Lumaria stopped. "Unlike you Axel, I have duties as lord in this realm." He smirked, and Lea got the feeling that he thought he was better than him.

"So now you´re a lord. Don't tell me you think you're better than me. You don't get to order me around like you did in Castle Oblivion."

"You always were good at following orders."

Lea snorted. "Well not anymore, I don´t do the dirty work of others if I don´t want to." He folded his arms.

Ventus rolled his eyes and looked up at Lumaria. "What is it you need our help with?"

Lumaria shrugged. "It´s simple. Some bandit is ransacking some of my subjects."

Lea quirked a brow "Are you asking us to do it because you can´t do it alone, or because you won´t get your hands dirty?"

Before Lumaria could reply, his wife Nichole replied for him "Of course he needs your help, my husband may be strong but he's not invincible." She smirked. "Besides, you can look at this as payment for our hospitality."

Lea sighed and held his hands up in defeat. "Alright, I give! I´ll help."

Lumaria smiled at his wife.

"You can count me in," Ventus said cheerfully.

The children came back in the room. The little girl was rubbing her eyes. They were exhausted from the day's events. Lumaria smiled and guided his children to their rooms. "I have another matter to attend to first," he said looking down at his children, "But when I'm finished, we can leave."

Ventus and Lea nodded. It was kind of weird seeing someone as ruthless as Marluxia tend to his children so tenderly. Ventus looked up at Lea. He had a pensive look on his face.

"Is something on your mind, Lea?"

Lea shook his head. "Not really. Just thinking."

"About what?"

Lea scratched the back of his neck. "It's nothing. "  
>Ventus didn´t think it was nothing, but he didn't prod further. Instead, he changed the subject. "Do you think Isa knows where we're going?"<p>

"Probably not. Come on. We'd better tell him."

They made their way to his room, and slowly opened the door.

Isa was resting in bed, when they entered, and Ventus briefed him on where they were about to go. Isa suddenly sat up in bed.

Lea frowned. "What do you think you're doing? "

Isa looked at him calmly. "I´m going to help you."

"Are you nuts?"Lea nearly shouted. "You´re still hurt from the last battle!"

Isa pulled his cloak back on and got out of bed. "You don't have to thank me."

Ventus couldn´t help but laughing of Lea's incredulous face. "Are you feeling better?"

"Of course."

Lea snorted. "Lair."

Isa made a jab at Lea, but he quickly moved out of the way with a chuckle. "You can be such a pain sometimes," Isa said with a snort.

"I take that as a compliment." 

xXx 

A hour later, Lumaria and the others rode toward the place the farmer had said was being robbed by bandits. It was at the edge of the forest. They had taken a few of Lumaria's finest horses to ride out to the battle.

Lea was having trouble controlling his horse, and Lumaria was about at the end of his patience with him. "Would you stop playing around?" He hissed.

"Don´t you think I´m trying?" Lea shouted back.

Isa rolled his eyes, and grabbed the reins of Lea's horse. He said something to the animal, and it soon stopped causing trouble.

Soon they reached a patch of marshy land. Lumaria ordered them to walk the rest of the way.

They walked in silence to a clearing where a little group of bandits were sitting. Most of them were sleeping. They were tired from a day of robbing the town. Ventus counted to 20 men in the clearing.

Lumaria frowned as he summoned his scythe. "I don´t really care what you do with the rest of them. Kill them if you like, but I want the leader."

"What? You can´t kill them!" Ventus nearly shouted.

Lea laughed "Of course not. I´m not exactly a killer."

Lumaria laughed coldly. "I take that back I said in Maleficent's lair. You've gone soft, Axel."

Ventus recognized that name, it was the same name as he heard in the memory he had not long ago. Were Lea and Axel the same person? They must have been.

"And so what if I am?" Lea shouted. Isa shushed him, reminding him that they were in trying to sneak up on these bandits. He continued in an angry whisper. "I don´t want to be a murderer."

"Don´t make me laugh," Lumaria said. He stopped the conversation there and walked toward the bandits.

Lea glared at him, but Isa stopped him from arguing further. "Forget him Lea, you know how he is."

Lea nodded slowly "Yeah, I know… but he still ticks me off!"

The bandits were easily surprised, and by the time the others joined the fight, Lumaria had already taken out two of them with his scythe. He attacked the way his Nobody had: He was cold hearted.

Ventus in the other hand only fought the men up until they were no longer a threat. If they were wounded, or no longer able to fight, he left them.

Lumaria saw it and rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Ventus was glad he hadn't said anything. He knew in heart that those bandits were humans and it was not the right for a Keyblade wielder to decide who lived and who died. He remembered his master's words back when they were in the darkness. If people like these men gave in to the darkness, then they had to be destroyed. That was why it was okay to attack heartless. He couldn't imagine having to attack Terra one day, but he knew the battle would come. Hopefully ha hadn't give himself up to the Darkness…

One of the bandits notices Ventus's absent expression and took that opportunity to strike. Lea shielded his friend with his chakrams, nearly cutting the bandit's arm off.

"You alright?" He asked.

Ventus nodded. "Yeah, I´m okay."

Lea nodded with a faint smile. "Try not letting things distracts you." He then ran off and knocked more bandits down with his spinning weapons. Ventus followed him.

Soon, all the bandits were either dead, or unconscious. Only one was still on his feet. It was their leader, Ancar. He and Lumaria began to fight a battle to the death. They both stood facing each other, neither willing to back down.

Isa, he stood in the shadows and watched calmly as the two fought. Lumaria sliced Ancars weapon in half, and pointed his own weapon at the man's throat. "Now you die."

Ancar a strong build yet a little fat man with long dark dirty hair smirked. He wasn't afraid to die. "Are you sure you want to? My men will get revenge."

Lumaria didn´t seems to care. He lifted his scythe, but Isa stopped him. "I think he got the point."

"Mind your own business!" Lumaria hissed back.

Isa walked out from the shadows "No. You aren't thinking clearly. You know this man. You know how to stop him."

"I'm about to stop him now, Saïx! You're interrupting me. "

Isa eyes flashed at hearing the way Lumaria had spoken his old name, but he quickly suppressed it. "What if these men try to harm you the same way you did to their leader?"

Lumaria laughed. "Let them come." He didn't let another moment pass before his scythe came down and separated his head from his body. "I have already died twice and not afraid to die anymore," Lumaria said quietly.

Isa turned to him. "He didn´t have to die. Why did you do it?"

"Because I can. They´re not worth it."

"That´s not a reason, Lumaria," Isa hissed. He pointed at the body. "You think this will solve your problems? Killing others? It won´t. It will get worse. You are a lord Lumaria, you´re suppose to protect others."

Lumaria snorted "Don´t make me laugh Saïx. Do you really think nobility can save the world? No, only power can do that"

Isa smirked. "You mean the power of hatred? I have had enough of that from being in the Organization." He tried to hold in his anger but it was becoming difficult.

"Didn't the power of hatred help you when you were Xemnas's dog?" A moment later he was gasping for breath as Isa now had him by the throat. He lifted him in the air.

In Isa's eyes was now pure rage. "Don´t ever mention that name in front of me." Isa growled and threw Lumaria down on the ground.

Lumaria recovered quickly and summoned his weapon.

"Such power… you have." There was amusement in his voice, but he was a bit unsure of what he was capable of in his berserk mode.

Isa summoned his claymore and his cool personality faded, as his heart was now full of Darkness. Isa roared, and jumped into the air. There wasn't an ounce of humanity left in his expression.

Lea and Ventus stopped what they were doing when they heard the shout come from Isa.

"He´s going to kill him!" Lea yelled. He knew it wouldn't be long before Lumaria pushed him too far.

"What happening to Isa? Why is he doing that? Ventus asked.

"It´s because of the Darkness in his heart."

They saw Lumaria defend himself against the claymore.

"He can't control himself…" Lea said sadly. He didn't know what he could do to save his friend (he wasn't too concerned with Lumaria). He had to do something!

He leapt in the air and grabbed Isa's hood. He accidentally pulled him with too much force, and the two of them toppled into a tree. Isa's head made contact with the trunk of the tree, which seemed to knock him back to normal.

Ventus ran to them. "Are you two alright?"

Isa nodded "I be alright … what do you mean by 'two'?"

Lea groaned in pain. He was sitting in an awkward position under the tree. Isa's eyes wide when he saw what happed. Lea rubbed his head.

"I´m so sorry!" Isa said. He helped Lea up.

Lumaria was standing a few meters away from them holding his injured side. "He can´t return to my castle."

"Why? Because if you tick him off, he'll kill you? "

The Lord of Thorns glared. "Hardly. It's because he'll attack anyone who makes him angry. He´s not a man; he's a monster. I won´t let a monster near my family!"

Lea grabbed Lumaria´s collar. "He´s not a monster!"

"He don´t even deny it!" Lumaria shoved him backward. "You can live in that lie if you want to, but I refuse to deny the truth."

Lumaria turned to leave but Ventus stopped him. "Well, aren't you a monster too then, Marluxia?"

Lumaria stopped. He was surprised that this kid knew the name of his Nobody. "No."

"Then why do you call Isa that? Only creatures of the Darkness are monsters. They, and people who enjoy hurting others are the true monsters!" He pointed at Ancar's body.

Lumaria rolled his eyes. "What is it you want?"

Ventus sighed. "Just let us stay until tomorrow, then we leave."

Both Isa and Lea were surprised that after a few moments of muttering to himself that Lumaria agreed. He wouldn´t allow them to stay a minute longer than noon.

xXx

Back at the mansion, Ventus walked back to his room. Lumaria had gone directly to bed. It had been a long day, and he was exhausted.

'_I hope tomorrow won't be as exciting as today…_' Ventus thought with a yawn. He took his armor off. As he did so, he wondered what the others were doing. It had been some time since they had split with Sora, Kairi and Riku. It had only been a few hours, but it felt like days.

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't notice the yellow eye watching him from the ceiling….not until it was too late. He heard something land on the floor. He quickly turned around and summoned his Keyblade. He looked around in the darkness but couldn't find anything. He felt a sudden sharp pain in his neck and he dropped to the floor, unconscious.

The person who had knocked him out watched his victim on the floor. An Organization cloak covered his form, but his hood was down. A yellow eye glared down at Ventus. The other was covered with an eye patch.

He lifted one of his guns, and smirked. "The boss man wanted you dead, but you know, I don't think you're completely useless yet." He dispersed his weapon. "But, I want to see what you and the Sora kid can do. So you have to stay away from the upcoming battle. Take a vacation maybe." He chuckled and picked Ventus up. "I have the perfect place in mind. You might not remember who you are though…"

He opened a portal and carried Ventus with him. He placed a piece of paper in Ventus's armor. "No one wants to miss out on the fun that's about to start." He hopped into the portal and it closed behind him.

The next morning, Isa found the armor and the letter. As he read, the frown on his face became deeper. He ran to the other room and shook Lea awake.

Lea eyes opened, and he rubbed them with a yawn. "What´s going on?"

Isa showed him the armor. "Ventus is gone."

Lea sprang out of bed. "How? What happed?" He took the letter from Isa´s hand and read it. "What the heck is this supposes to mean?

Isa turned around and began to walk out. Lea followed him.

"We need to return to Radiant Garden."

**This is the ending of Newfound Journey. The next story in this saga is titled "Unbreakable Promises."**


End file.
